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The Constitution says very little about the internal design of Congress. It names a small handful of offices (The Speaker of the House, and the President and President Pro Tempore of the Senate) and alludes to existence of others. Apart from that there is little. Nothing is said, for example, of the two most important institutions within Congress, political parties and committees. Both developed quickly within Congress, and have been ongoing components of it ever since. In addition, a variety of informal organizations, caucuses, have evolved to allow members of Congress who share a common interest in a subject to meet to develop proposals for how to address it. In this section we cover each of these features.
Timeline:
1. What were the primary objectives of the first Congress?
2. How has the role of the Speaker evolved over time? What impact did Henry Clay, Thomas Reed and Joseph Cannon have on the power of the office? How was the power of the Speaker limited early in the 20th century?
3. How did political parties evolve in Congress?
4. What influence has Congress had on the presidency?
5. How do political parties help meet the needs of individual members of Congress?
6. What influence do parties have in Congress today?
7. What are the key leadership party leadership positions? What does each do? Pay special attention to the floor leaders and whips.
8. How did committees evolve in Congress?
9. What types of commitees exist? What is their role?
10. What roles do committee chairs play in the legislative process?
11. What are the key committees? What makes them especially important?
12. How do Lobbyists influence members of Congress? What limits exist on how they can influence them?
13. Who represents the local area in the Texas Legislature and the United States Congress?
14. Be able to define the terms listed below under "additional terms and concepts." Written Questions for Fall 2009 Online Students:
Answer each in at least 150 words.
1. The House Ways and Means Committee may be the single most important committee in Congress. Above are some links to the committee website itself and to some history about it and commitees in general. Detail what it does and why it is so powerful.
2. Research and analyze the Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference in the U.S. House and Senate. How does each attempt to organize their members?
3. Below you will see a list of U.S. House Districts for the Greater Houston Area. Look up the districts and fidn out what committees the represebntatives serve on. What does this tell us about which issues are espacially important in this area?
4. Using online resources (for example, the Center for Responsive Politics) find out which interest groups contribute the most to area representatives and senators. Try to find out what these interests get for their investments.
See the syllabus for the due date The First Congress.
The Congress took several weeks to get under way because it took some time for a sufficient number of members of each chamber to get to New York in order for a quorum to be met. Only then could the electoral college votes be counted in the Senate and Washington sworn in as president. The Congress met both in New York and Philadelphia, and during its two year term passed laws establishing the early government and setting policy in a course favored by the Federalists (then called pro-administration), who by virtue of having successfully organized to ratify the Constitution were well suited to successfully compete in the first elections. Both Congress and the Presidency were held either by Federalists, or people sympathetic to their efforts to further expand national power.
Among its accomplishments were the establishment of the State, War and Treasury Departments, the passage of the Bill of Rights, the design of the federal judiciary and the Supreme Court, the approval of Hamilton's economic plan, and the selection of land on the Potomac River for the permanent seta of government. Also within each chamber were the early organizational moves that would lead to the development of the first party system between the Federalists and Democrat-Republicans.
The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, meaning that he or she presides over debates on the floor and performs administrative duties for the chamber. The position is modeled somewhat after the Speaker of the British House of Commons. The office was intended to be neutral (there is no specific requirement that the Speaker actually be an elected member of the House) and preside over debate without participating in it. Speakers still pay lip service to this custom by not speaking or voting on bills unless absolutely necessary. I say lip service because as the office has evolved, it is almost always held by the leader of majority party. After each election, each party meets as a caucus and selects it leaders and other party positions (these are detailed below). Each party nominates its leader for Speaker and obviously the majority party can elect its own as Speaker. This wiil always be the case except in the rare occasions when there are an even number of members of each party, and a sufficient number of members of minor parties in the chamber to make the choice.
Since the Constitution says nothing specific about either the duties of the Speaker or the nature of other institutions in the House, there is nothing in place to mandate the exact source of the Speaker's power. Since this is the case, the power is in flux. Generally Speakers are powerful only to the degree that they can control the course of legislation, and the membership and actions of standing committees. Powerful Speakers are able to determine who becomes a member of which committees, who chairs the committees, which committees bills are sent to for mark-up and hearings, and which bills make it to the House floor for a vote. Weak Speakers can do only some, or none of these things.
Henry Clay is generally held to be the first Speaker who understood and used the powers of the office to pursue his objectives which included protectionist policies to help American industry develop. But the two Speakers who held the most power were Thomas Reed and Joseph Cannon. The latter is generally regarded as having been the most powerful Speaker in the history of the House due to his complete control over the course of legislation and the composition of committees. As with other Speakers, one key source of strength was control over the Rules Committee, which determines the rules for how legislation will be handled on the floor of the House. Cannon's arbitrary use of power, however, led to support for a reorganization of the House which stripped away some of the sources of his strength. The Speaker was no longer able to chair the Rules Committee or appoint members to committees. This stripped brute power from the office, but Speakers could still have influence depending on how they used their power.
Sam Rayburn, the longest serving Speaker in the history of the House and the representative from Texas' Fourth Congressional District, is also considered to have been one of the more powerful Speaker in history, but his power was based more on his persuasive abilities than the powers of the office. Rayburn was leaders of the Democrats in the House from 1940 - 1961 and served as Speaker when the party was the majority, which was in all but four years. In addition to Rayburn, two other Texans, John Nance Garner and Jim Wright have served as Speakers.
The President and President Pro-Tempore of the Senate.
The President of the Senate is the only person in the American governmental system that holds positions in two different institutions, the Vice President in the executive branch. Recently this has created confusion regarding the precise nature of the position. Is it an executive office or a legislative office? This became a point of contention when Dick Cheney, the office holder prior to Joe Biden, attempted to use this confusion to prevent investigations regarding hos activities from going forward. One key argument against the office being legislative was the fact the holder of the office is not in fact a Senator, and cannot serve on committees, argue on the floor of the Senate or vote on bills except to break a tie, which rarely happens.
The first holder of the office, John Adams, was reportedly frustrated with his role as presiding officer, but since he thought this was his responsibility, he actually presided over the Senate. Since then, most office holders have delegated this task to eitehr the President Pro-Tempore, or to another available Senator. The fact is that the Senate's calendar is set by pary leaders, especially the majority leader, and the recognition of Senators happens by the Senators themselves. The Senate has evolved into the rare institution that is run primarily by its membership, meaning that there is little for the presiding offcer to do.
The Development of Political Parties.
Political parties, as we covered them in 2301, are the principal political institutions in all levels of American government. They can be defined as political organizations that seek to control governmental offices by contesting in elections. They offer platforms to the voters, seek to implement them once in office, and are held responsible for their successes and failures in regularly scheduled elections. As mentioned in 2301, parties weree neither mentioned in the Constitution, nor were tangible features of American government until after the Constitution's ratification. Political parties, as we know them in the U.S., developed initially within Congress. Supporters of the Washington Administration's policies rallied under the guidance of Alexander Hamilton and became the Federalist Party, opponents did so under Thomas Jefferson and became the Democrat-Republicans.
Despite Washington's warnings about the "baneful effects of the spirit of party" they developed anyway. This is a testament to their usefullness. Political parties are the most effective way to organize a group of like-minded individuals to effectively pass or block legislation. Currently the Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference are the dominant political entities in Congress and are responsible for recruiting candidates, assisting with Congressional races, electing Congressional leaders, assigning members to committees, selecting committee chairs, putting legislative agendas together, developing strategies for passing or defeating legislation, and organizing Congress' daily schedule.
The first party organization in the U.S. is argued to be the Democratic Republican Caucus which helped organize opposition to Federalist attempts to expand national power. The caucus grew in strength and within several elections was able to nominate candidates for the presidency, which gave them a degree of control over the executive. This was the era of King Caucus. Presidents during this period played second fiddle to Congress and would continue to do so until parties expanded across the country and national nominating conventions removed the selection of presidential candidates from Congress and handed it to party bosses. Since the modern Democratic Party began as a splinter of the Democratic-Republicans, their caucus claims its legacy back to the establishment of the Democratic-Republican Caucus. For more background read: Answers.com: Congressional Caucuses.
Party Discipline and the Goals of the Individual Member.
A word on party discipline would be helpful. In order for political parties to be effective, they have to be cohesive, that is they must be able to work in unison. What use is it for a party to be a majority if its members cannot vote together. If the majority cannot hold, then it cannot craft and pass legislation. Some mechanism has to be in place to compel members to vote together. This is the job of the party leadership (which comprise the bulk of the offices which exist in Congress). These are which are listed below in order of rank. Each has a role to play in keeping the party together, either by enticing individuals to work with the party, or compelling them to do so.
This requires the party leadership to have a full grasp of the motivations and goals of its members, often called the rank and file, or back benchers. It is assumed that the typical member of Congress is driven by three motivations:
1 - Re-election
2 - Public Policy Goals
3 - Desire for Leadership Positions
In a sense these goals all come down to one thing: developing seniority, and the influence that comes with it. Political parties have developed into institutions that can control the factors that can determine whether members of Congress can achieve these goals. Members can only get re-elected if their constituents believe they have done an effective job in representing their interests. Generally this is possible only if members are in the committees that have jurisdiction over those interests, and if the party supports legislation introduced by the member. Since the party determines which committees members serve on, and to some degree who chairs the committee, the party can influence the ability that a member has to benefit their constituents. If a party chooses to punish a member that does not support party goals, it can deny them the ability to represent their constituents effectively which makes them vulnerable to electoral defeat.
By doing the party's bidding, the member can begin winning the elections necessary to develop seniority. Seniority simply refers to the amount of time that a person has served in office and places them higher up the chain of command and more likely to hold leadership positions or chair committees. With rare exceptions, the most effective members of Congress are those that have been there awhile. This makes it worthwhile for members to go along with their parties, unless there is a divergence between the preferences of the constituency and the party leadership. Since party leaders are sensitive to the needs of their members to stay in good standing of their constituents, they sometimes will allow them to vote against the party if the vote is not needed to pass legislation.
Party cohesion is a necessary condition for effective party governance. A successful party can maintain cohesion, an unsuccessful one cannot. This often means that parties that reflect fewer interests are at an advantage over parties with broader coalitions. It is easier for members of the latter party to divide on critical issues and fail to pass legislation. This explains why Democrats, who tend to represent more varied interests, have more difficulty working together than Republicans who tend to represent a smaller range of interests.
1 - Floor Leaders
The floor leaders are the party members responsible for organizing party activities on the floor of the House or Senate. They are given the labels majority or minority leaders. The majority leader is actually second in leadership of the majority party since the leader becomes Speaker. The minority leader is in fact the leader of the minority party. By being floor leaders, the majority and minority leaders in the House are in a position to enforce party discipline because they are the people who determine who can and cannot speak before the floor. In the House, when bills are voted out of a committee it goes to the rules committee which determines, among other things, how much time will be spent debating the bill on the floor of the House. Each party is given half the alloted time to speak, and the floor manager is given the responsibility to determine who will and will not speak on the bill.
This is a critical resource for party cohesion since all members of Congress want to have face time speaking before the floor. A party member who has not voted with the party, or who has actively opposed it, is not likely to be allowed to speak, meaning that they will not be able to display themselves to their constituents. This is considered to be the most important day to day resource parties have to maintain party discipline, but it is only effective in the House. In the Senate the right to recognize who can speak on the floor is given to the person who is currently speaking, though it is limited by very strict rules of seniority. (see seniority rules in the Senate, and seniority rules in the House).
Both parties in each chamber have a group of members who make up the whip system, headed by a majority or minority whip. The whip is essentially a vote counter. Their job is to pre-determine how members will vote for bills on the floor and relay this information to other party leaders. Once a vote is held, there should be no surprises. The parties should be clear about who supports and opposes bills, and more importantly, who is undecided and what it takes to persuaded those members to vote with the party. This involves a great deal of intelligence and communication. Each party in each chamber employs a small handful of party members to serve as a whip system. Each member may have the responsibility for communicating with a specific group of individuals in order to determine where they stand on specific bills.
A couple of Texans have served as whips in the past few decades. The first, Lyndon Johnson, is credited with discovering the potential strength in what had been a weak office. As Senate majority whip he was able, with the help of his assistant Bobby Baker, to determine what factors drove the other Senators. He assembled information about each and knew what buttons to push in order to get the votes he needed. This information became useful when he became president and he was able to persuade members of Congress to pass one of the more ambitious legislative agendas ever proposed by a president.
The other was Tom Delay whose control over his party members included influence over who would be able to get funds for re-election. His attempts to do so for Texas races led to his indictment for violating laws against using corporate or union funds for elections.
Within each party caucus are policy committees which help determine legislative strategies, meaning which policies the party ought to pursue and how they shoudl attempt to steer them through Congress.
5 - Congressional Campaign Committee Chairs
Congressional Campaign Committees are responsible for organizing, or more accurately assiting in the organization of, congressional elections. Teh job of each party's campaign committee is to determine which seats held by the other party might be vulnerable, and recruiting the candidates and funding necessary to win the seat. They are also responsible for determining which of their own seats they need to focus on protecting.
As with political parties, committees developed quickly within in Congress, and it did so hand in hand with the development of the early executive agencies. As each of the early executive agencies were established, and related committee was established as well with jurisdiction over the law implemented by that agency. When the Treasury Department was established, the Ways and Means Committee was established as well. What this tells us is that tight relationships have evolved between certain committees and certain executiev departments, even to the point where staff members in one branch may switch jobs to the other branch, within the same policy. There are three types of committees: standing, select and joint committees, as well as a fourth unique type of committee called a conference committee. The standing committee is the most important of these and the one I will spend the bulk of time discussing.
Standing Committees are semi - permanent features of the bill making process. I say semi - permanent because they tend to exist for long periods of time (The House Ways and Means Committee is 220 years old), but can always be terminated by a simple vote because they are not established in the Constitution. Standing Committees are composed of members of the House or Senate. The ratio between party members is in rough proportion to the ration in the entire chamber. The majority party in the entire chamber is also the majority party in each committee and the chair of the committee is also a member of the majority party. The upshot of this is that it is good to be the majority party. You are then in a position to dominate the legislative process.
It is vitally important for members of Congress to be appointed to committees that have jurisdiction over issues that are important to their constituents. This is the only way the member would be able to have influence over issues that matter to them. In the local area, for example, members of Congress are members of the Science Committees, which have jurisdiction over bills regarding space policy, and Energy and Commerce Committees, which have jurisdiction over oil and gas policy as well as policies related to the Port of Houston. Since commitee assignments are made by party leaders, this can be a tool for influencing the behavior of party rank and file, as well as punishing those who do not toe the party line.
After bills are introduced into the House and Senate, they are assigned to the committee that has jurisdiction over the bill. Sometimes the referal is given to a parlimentarian, a non-partisan position, based on their best determination of what the bill is really about. Sometimes if the bill is complex, and has multiple subjects, it may be sent to multiple committees for consideration (the health reform legislation is an example -- five committees had jurisdiction over the issue). Each committeee may produce a different bill, and a reconciliation must occur at some point. Sometimes the Speaker may seek to control where bills go, but this can prove controversial.
These committes engage in two principal tasks related to the bills they are assigned. They can hold hearings over the bill, meaning that they solicit testimony from interested individuals who wish to speak on the bill. Often these hearings are open to the public, but obviously one must have the ability to make it the committee hearing in order to be heard. They also engage in markup, meaning they go over the bill point by point and retain, amend and delete scetions as they see fit. Generally both of these happen in one of the committee's sub-committees, which allow even more specialization in subject matter. If the subcommitee approves, it reports the bill to the full committee, and if the full committee approves, it begins its former to the House or Senate floor.
One additional task for each committee is oversight. Committees can compel testimony from members of the executive branch responsible for implementing the laws that the committee has jurisdiction over if they have questions regarding how they did so. Oversight hearings can sometimes be very political, espacially in cases of divided government where a Congress held by one party may wish to embarass executive branch officials working under a President of the other party.
Select, or special, Committees are committees that are appointed for a brief period of time to deal with an issue that falls out of the jurisdiction of a standing committee, or cuts accross the jurisdictino of several commitees. Often they are used to investigate pressing matters such as Joseph McCarthy's accusations that communists had infiltrated the State Department in the 1950s, the Watergate Crisis, the Iran-Contra Controversy, and investigations into President Clinton's Whitewater land dealings.
Joint Committees are commitees with members from both the House and Senate that handle housekeeping issues important to Congress as a whole, and studies over issues such a taxation.
Conference Committees are a special type of temporary joint committee that has one simple task: to reconcile differences between House and Senate bills in order for each chamber to approve a single bill that can be sent to the president for a signature. It is very rare for the same bill to pass both chambers in the same language, generally this only occurs if one chamber has no problem with a bill passed on the floor of the other chamber and sends the bill straight to the floor for consideration without amendment. Conference Commitees are appointed by party leaders of each chamber and tend to be composed of the leaders most involved with a specific bill. The hearings are generally held in secret, which allows for a variety of controversial proceedings, including the addition of earmarks meant to be "sweeteners" meant to entice reluctant members of Congress to support the bill.
Not all standing committees are created equal. The most important committees, and the ones that are most difficult to be appointed to, are those that have jurisdiction over money, or constitutional law. The money commitees are the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees (which sets tax rates), the House and Senate Budget Committees (which help set the budget, whcih authorises the expenditure of money) and the House and Senate Appropriation Commitees (which are the committees responsible for actually appropriating the funds to be distributed to executive agencies). The Senate Judiciary Commitee is also one of the more prestigious committees in Congress given its role in overseeing actions of the Judicial Branch, and confirming fedrral judges and Supreme Court Justices.
The Appropriations Committee deserves special mention because members of the committee can leverage their positions into broad influence over a range of Congressional issues. The committee is divided into a number of sub-committees that have juridiction over the federal spending that roughly approximates the division within each of the cabinet level departments on the federal level. Given that much of this spending is spread out over the entire country, it is worthwhile for all members of Congress to develop collegial relations with members of the Appropriations Committee. Tom DeLay was able to use his positon as chair of the Transportation Sub-Committee within the House Appropriations Committee to a position of power within his party. Since everyone needs money for transportation infrastructure, it was important for everyone to be friendly to Mr. DeLay.
In the discussion above regarding the Speaker, it was noted that in the pate 19th and early 20th centuries, the House Speaker was the most powerful person in Congress, and that his power was based largely on his control over committees. He determined where bills went, who was on what committee and who chaired it. The reduction of the Speaker's power was driven partly by depriving him of these powers over committees. The party caucus now determined who would be on which committee, and a strict seniority rule was adopted for becoming committee chair. Chairs were also granted significant control over their committees and how they would control legislation within it. These reforms occured in the first and second decades of the 20th century.
The strict seniority rule established that the member of the majority party with the longest service in Congress automatically became committee chair. This ensured that chairs could not be controlled by anyone in Congress, which was fine if one wanted to avoid having a dictatorial Speaker, but not if one wanted to avoid having dictatorial committee chairs. Power began to shift to members of Congress who represented non-competitive districts. These were placs like the South were only the Democratic Party held sway, there would be no competitive Republican Party until the 1960s at the earliest, and sometimes not until the 1990s. Representatives could be, as the saying went, elected young and kept there in order to earn the seniority that allowed them to become committee chairs and use that power to stop legislation they opposed from becoming law. Since southern races were less competitive than those in other parts of the country, this rule benefitted the South.
Committee chairs could table legislation at will, even over the objections of the rest of the committee. This was how committee chairs could ensure that civil rights legislation would never see the light of day. But this power was simply a result of the reforms passed in the early years of the 20th century, and were subject to change. This change eventually occurred in the mid 1970s after several election cycles where more liberal Democrats were elected to Congress from non-Southern districts. These representatives were opposed to the rule of the Southern Barons and eventually earned enough power to pass the Subcommittee Bill of Rights which made several changes to committee procedures which reduced the power of committee chairs by replacing strict seniority rule with a secret ballot within the party caucus. This allowed for certain targetted commitee chairs to be removed without the risk of reprisal if the effort failed. It also allowed for the retention of committee chairs the party caucus wanted to keep. Seniority does have its advantages.
The bill also mandated that each commitee have a handful of sub-committees which allowed members of the commitee to operate without being under the thumb of the committee chair, and a majority of the members of a committee can vote a bill out of committee over the objection of the chair.
In addition to the two major caucuses -- the Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference -- there are literally hundreds of smaller caucuses focused on smaller, more focused issues important to segments of the House and Senate membership. Often these organizations provide opportunities for the development of legislation aimed at the certain mutually important issues to members of these caucuses.
Aside from the institutions above, three important supporting agencies have been established which assist member of Congress with their jobs. The oldest is the Library of Congress, which is great source for full information about legislation introduced into Congress. The Congressional Budget Office, which is the legislature's equivalent of the executive's Office of Managament and Budget, provides analysis for members of Congress about the national budget, as well as estimations of what various government proposals are likely to cost. The General Accountability Office is the investigative arm of Congress and is largely responsible for determining how funds have been spent on certain programs.
Influencing Members of Congress: Lobbying and Electioneering.
Lobbying.
One of the freedoms clearly established in the First Amendment is also one of the more controversial. The right to peacefully assemble and petition government for a redress of grievances, means that we are free to lobby Congress. But just saying we are free to do so does not means we are all able to successfully do so. Two of the principle ways that interest groups influence the legislative process is by lobbying, which means making direct appeals to members of Congress, and electioneering, which refers to efforts to aid in the re-election of incumbents, or the election of new members of Congress. Both are controversial because their relative effectiveness depends on the amount of money the groups have to spend.
The classic image of a lobbyist is one who hangs out in the lobby outside a legislative chamber and waits for members to walk out when they can then approach them and discuss a particular issue with them. There are of course many ways this can be done. Aside from meeting in a legislators' office, they can meet in neutral sites such as fundraisers, award ceremonies, restaurants, and perhaps most controversially, private trips paid for by lobbyists. Lavish events tend to attract more members of Congress than more pedestrian ones. The key to effective lobbying is the ability of a lobbyist to gain access to a member of Congress. For that reason, familiarity helps. This explains why ex-members of Congress and state legislatures tend to make the best lobbyists. While we can all knock on a door, we cannot all have it opened and be invited inside. In the case of Texas Legislators. it helps explain why someone might put up with a job that only pays $600 per month. Once out of office, that person can earn six and seven figure salaries lobbying for well funded private interests.
- Meet Billy Tauzin, ex-Congressional Representative, current head of PhRMA.
In addition to ex-legislators, ex-staff members of legislators, or of legislative committees can be effective lobbyists. Not only would they also be acquainted with members of the legislature, they would also be familiar with the intricacies of the legislative process. They would know how things get done in a particular committee and be especially useful in passing, or stalling a given bill.
Controversies aside, lobbyists do serve an important function. They educate legislators about issues they might otherwise ignore. If the lobbyist can organize groups of constituents from the legislators' district, then the importance of a particular issue can be made clear. That said, this only helps interests that can afford to send people to Austin or Washington DC.
Types of Lobbying.
We normally think of lobbying as an interaction begun by the lobbyist who makes a plea to a legislator for a vote on a bill or the insertion of an amendment to a bill, or perhaps even for the introduction of a bill crafted by the lobbyist themselves. But sometimes the relationship can be reversed. Reverse lobbying occurs when a legislator approaches an interest group and makes a demand that they do certain things in exchange for the legislators' support on a bill. Cross lobbying occurs when interest groups lobby each other in an attempt to increase their influence on a particular bill or issue.
Electioneering.
Interest groups want to ensure that the composition of Congress is as favorable as possible for their positions. This means that they get involved in the recruitment, funding and election efforts of legislators they believe would vote their way, and attempt to defeat those that would not. Interest groups often get involved in public relations efforts not directly tied into the elections of legislators who support their positions in order to tilt the landscape in their favor.
What is Legal and What's Not.
Despite the constitutional rights associated with lobbying and electioneering, questions continue to be raised about the ethics and legality of certain practices. In a sense, the offering of a vote in exchange for a favor is bribery. But in another sense, it is an effective way for constituents to ensure that they are well represented. If we are free to contribute money to candidates running for office, and presumably we are more likely to do so for people who will support the issues we support. Some degree of reciprocity should be expected. This is the heart of representation. But the idea that lobbyists, by possessing certain benefits not available to others, have a special ability to ensure that legislation benefits them or their interests at the expense of others, violates our belief that we are equally represented.
The case of Jack Abramoff illustrates the problems associated with lobbying.
Additional Terms and Concepts.
Be prepared to define any of these terms:
- Patronage.
- Log Rolling.
- Earmarks.
- Constituency Service.
- Pork Barrel Legislation.
- Party Line Vote.
1 - Outline the history of the party caucuses in the House and Senate. How do political parties influence the legislative process?
2 - Do the same for congressional commitees.
3 - Who represents you in Congress and the Texas Legislature? How do they do so? How are their party and committee activities geared towards properly representing the interests of their constituents?
Lecture Students:
Again, we will have a multiple choice quiz. Be able to answer questiosn related to the nature of party and committee influence in the legislature. Know the names of the people who occupy leadership positions in Congress and what those leadership positions do. Also be able to answer questions about the people who represent the local area at the national and state level. What committees are they on? What positions do they take on current issues?
Written Questions for Summer 2009 Online Students:
Answer each in at least 150 words.
1 - Outline the history of political parties (The Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference) in the United States Congress. What impact does each party have on the political process currently?
2 - Answer the same question (#1) for congressional commitees.
3 - Who represents you in Congress and the Texas Legislature? How do they do so? How are their party and committee activities geared towards properly representing the interests of their constituents?
4 - On the websites of the U.S. House and Senate you will find lists of recent activity. Outline each. What are the principle items on each chamber's agenda? What are their prospects for passage?
The Legislature: Evolution and Organization
Power Points: Please note there are 130 slides so be careful if you print them out.
The Constitution says very little about the internal design of Congress. It names a small handful of offices (The Speaker of the House, and the President and President Pro Tempore of the Senate) and alludes to existence of others. Apart from that there is little. Nothing is said, for example, of the two most important institutions within Congress, political parties and committees. Both developed quickly within Congress, and have been ongoing components of it ever since. In addition, a variety of informal organizations, caucuses, have evolved to allow members of Congress who share a common interest in a subject to meet to develop proposals for how to address it. In this section we cover each of these features.
Timeline:
1789: The First Congress convenes. The Federalist Partydominates.
1789: House Ways and Means Committee is formed. Read history here. Committee website here. Committees become part of the Billmaking process.
1792: Democratic Republican Party forms.
1811: Henry Clay elected Speaker.
1820: Missouri Compromisepasses Congress.
1825: House of Representatives elects John Quincy Adams president over Anrew Jackson.
1833: Whig Partycandidates first elected to office.
1844: Democrats campaign on pledge to bring Texas into the union.
1854: Candidates from the Republican Partyfirst elected to Congress.
1866: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee formed.
1889: "Czar" Thomas Reed first elected Speaker.
1903 - 1911: Joseph Cannon is Speaker of the House.
1914: Congressional Research Service established.
1931: John Nance Garner becomes Speaker.
1933: Democrats takeover Congress along with the presidency.
1937: Conservative Coalitionforms and controls Congress for many years.
1940: Sam Rayburnbecomes Speaker.
1946: Legislative Reorganization Act reorganizes committee system in Congress.
1952: Lyndon Johnsonbecomes Senate Majority Leader.
1973: The Subcommittee Bill of Rights passed.
1987: Jim Wright becomes Speaker.
1994: Republican Party wins controls of Congress for first time in 40 years.
2009: 111th United States Congress Convenes.
2009: 81st Texas LegislatureConvenes.
Study Guide Questions
1. What were the primary objectives of the first Congress?
2. How has the role of the Speaker evolved over time? What impact did Henry Clay, Thomas Reed and Joseph Cannon have on the power of the office? How was the power of the Speaker limited early in the 20th century?
3. How did political parties evolve in Congress?
4. What influence has Congress had on the presidency?
5. How do political parties help meet the needs of individual members of Congress?
6. What influence do parties have in Congress today?
7. What are the key leadership party leadership positions? What does each do? Pay special attention to the floor leaders and whips.
8. How did committees evolve in Congress?
9. What types of commitees exist? What is their role?
10. What roles do committee chairs play in the legislative process?
11. What are the key committees? What makes them especially important?
12. How do Lobbyists influence members of Congress? What limits exist on how they can influence them?
13. Who represents the local area in the Texas Legislature and the United States Congress?
14. Be able to define the terms listed below under "additional terms and concepts."
Written Questions for Fall 2009 Online Students:
Answer each in at least 150 words.
1. The House Ways and Means Committee may be the single most important committee in Congress. Above are some links to the committee website itself and to some history about it and commitees in general. Detail what it does and why it is so powerful.
2. Research and analyze the Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference in the U.S. House and Senate. How does each attempt to organize their members?
3. Below you will see a list of U.S. House Districts for the Greater Houston Area. Look up the districts and fidn out what committees the represebntatives serve on. What does this tell us about which issues are espacially important in this area?
4. Using online resources (for example, the Center for Responsive Politics) find out which interest groups contribute the most to area representatives and senators. Try to find out what these interests get for their investments.
See the syllabus for the due date
The First Congress.
The Congress took several weeks to get under way because it took some time for a sufficient number of members of each chamber to get to New York in order for a quorum to be met. Only then could the electoral college votes be counted in the Senate and Washington sworn in as president. The Congress met both in New York and Philadelphia, and during its two year term passed laws establishing the early government and setting policy in a course favored by the Federalists (then called pro-administration), who by virtue of having successfully organized to ratify the Constitution were well suited to successfully compete in the first elections. Both Congress and the Presidency were held either by Federalists, or people sympathetic to their efforts to further expand national power.
Among its accomplishments were the establishment of the State, War and Treasury Departments, the passage of the Bill of Rights, the design of the federal judiciary and the Supreme Court, the approval of Hamilton's economic plan, and the selection of land on the Potomac River for the permanent seta of government. Also within each chamber were the early organizational moves that would lead to the development of the first party system between the Federalists and Democrat-Republicans.
- Wikipedia: The First Congress.
- Bills passed by the First Congress.
The Speaker of the House.
The Speaker is the presiding officer of the House of Representatives, meaning that he or she presides over debates on the floor and performs administrative duties for the chamber. The position is modeled somewhat after the Speaker of the British House of Commons. The office was intended to be neutral (there is no specific requirement that the Speaker actually be an elected member of the House) and preside over debate without participating in it. Speakers still pay lip service to this custom by not speaking or voting on bills unless absolutely necessary. I say lip service because as the office has evolved, it is almost always held by the leader of majority party. After each election, each party meets as a caucus and selects it leaders and other party positions (these are detailed below). Each party nominates its leader for Speaker and obviously the majority party can elect its own as Speaker. This wiil always be the case except in the rare occasions when there are an even number of members of each party, and a sufficient number of members of minor parties in the chamber to make the choice.
Since the Constitution says nothing specific about either the duties of the Speaker or the nature of other institutions in the House, there is nothing in place to mandate the exact source of the Speaker's power. Since this is the case, the power is in flux. Generally Speakers are powerful only to the degree that they can control the course of legislation, and the membership and actions of standing committees. Powerful Speakers are able to determine who becomes a member of which committees, who chairs the committees, which committees bills are sent to for mark-up and hearings, and which bills make it to the House floor for a vote. Weak Speakers can do only some, or none of these things.
Henry Clay is generally held to be the first Speaker who understood and used the powers of the office to pursue his objectives which included protectionist policies to help American industry develop. But the two Speakers who held the most power were Thomas Reed and Joseph Cannon. The latter is generally regarded as having been the most powerful Speaker in the history of the House due to his complete control over the course of legislation and the composition of committees. As with other Speakers, one key source of strength was control over the Rules Committee, which determines the rules for how legislation will be handled on the floor of the House. Cannon's arbitrary use of power, however, led to support for a reorganization of the House which stripped away some of the sources of his strength. The Speaker was no longer able to chair the Rules Committee or appoint members to committees. This stripped brute power from the office, but Speakers could still have influence depending on how they used their power.
Sam Rayburn, the longest serving Speaker in the history of the House and the representative from Texas' Fourth Congressional District, is also considered to have been one of the more powerful Speaker in history, but his power was based more on his persuasive abilities than the powers of the office. Rayburn was leaders of the Democrats in the House from 1940 - 1961 and served as Speaker when the party was the majority, which was in all but four years. In addition to Rayburn, two other Texans, John Nance Garner and Jim Wright have served as Speakers.
- List of Speakers of the U.S. House.
- Wikipedia: Nancy Pelosi.
- Official Site of U.S. Speaker.
The President and President Pro-Tempore of the Senate.
The President of the Senate is the only person in the American governmental system that holds positions in two different institutions, the Vice President in the executive branch. Recently this has created confusion regarding the precise nature of the position. Is it an executive office or a legislative office? This became a point of contention when Dick Cheney, the office holder prior to Joe Biden, attempted to use this confusion to prevent investigations regarding hos activities from going forward. One key argument against the office being legislative was the fact the holder of the office is not in fact a Senator, and cannot serve on committees, argue on the floor of the Senate or vote on bills except to break a tie, which rarely happens.
The first holder of the office, John Adams, was reportedly frustrated with his role as presiding officer, but since he thought this was his responsibility, he actually presided over the Senate. Since then, most office holders have delegated this task to eitehr the President Pro-Tempore, or to another available Senator. The fact is that the Senate's calendar is set by pary leaders, especially the majority leader, and the recognition of Senators happens by the Senators themselves. The Senate has evolved into the rare institution that is run primarily by its membership, meaning that there is little for the presiding offcer to do.
The Development of Political Parties.
Political parties, as we covered them in 2301, are the principal political institutions in all levels of American government. They can be defined as political organizations that seek to control governmental offices by contesting in elections. They offer platforms to the voters, seek to implement them once in office, and are held responsible for their successes and failures in regularly scheduled elections. As mentioned in 2301, parties weree neither mentioned in the Constitution, nor were tangible features of American government until after the Constitution's ratification. Political parties, as we know them in the U.S., developed initially within Congress. Supporters of the Washington Administration's policies rallied under the guidance of Alexander Hamilton and became the Federalist Party, opponents did so under Thomas Jefferson and became the Democrat-Republicans.
Despite Washington's warnings about the "baneful effects of the spirit of party" they developed anyway. This is a testament to their usefullness. Political parties are the most effective way to organize a group of like-minded individuals to effectively pass or block legislation. Currently the Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference are the dominant political entities in Congress and are responsible for recruiting candidates, assisting with Congressional races, electing Congressional leaders, assigning members to committees, selecting committee chairs, putting legislative agendas together, developing strategies for passing or defeating legislation, and organizing Congress' daily schedule.
The first party organization in the U.S. is argued to be the Democratic Republican Caucus which helped organize opposition to Federalist attempts to expand national power. The caucus grew in strength and within several elections was able to nominate candidates for the presidency, which gave them a degree of control over the executive. This was the era of King Caucus. Presidents during this period played second fiddle to Congress and would continue to do so until parties expanded across the country and national nominating conventions removed the selection of presidential candidates from Congress and handed it to party bosses. Since the modern Democratic Party began as a splinter of the Democratic-Republicans, their caucus claims its legacy back to the establishment of the Democratic-Republican Caucus. For more background read: Answers.com: Congressional Caucuses.
Party Discipline and the Goals of the Individual Member.
A word on party discipline would be helpful. In order for political parties to be effective, they have to be cohesive, that is they must be able to work in unison. What use is it for a party to be a majority if its members cannot vote together. If the majority cannot hold, then it cannot craft and pass legislation. Some mechanism has to be in place to compel members to vote together. This is the job of the party leadership (which comprise the bulk of the offices which exist in Congress). These are which are listed below in order of rank. Each has a role to play in keeping the party together, either by enticing individuals to work with the party, or compelling them to do so.
This requires the party leadership to have a full grasp of the motivations and goals of its members, often called the rank and file, or back benchers. It is assumed that the typical member of Congress is driven by three motivations:
1 - Re-election
2 - Public Policy Goals
3 - Desire for Leadership Positions
In a sense these goals all come down to one thing: developing seniority, and the influence that comes with it. Political parties have developed into institutions that can control the factors that can determine whether members of Congress can achieve these goals. Members can only get re-elected if their constituents believe they have done an effective job in representing their interests. Generally this is possible only if members are in the committees that have jurisdiction over those interests, and if the party supports legislation introduced by the member. Since the party determines which committees members serve on, and to some degree who chairs the committee, the party can influence the ability that a member has to benefit their constituents. If a party chooses to punish a member that does not support party goals, it can deny them the ability to represent their constituents effectively which makes them vulnerable to electoral defeat.
By doing the party's bidding, the member can begin winning the elections necessary to develop seniority. Seniority simply refers to the amount of time that a person has served in office and places them higher up the chain of command and more likely to hold leadership positions or chair committees. With rare exceptions, the most effective members of Congress are those that have been there awhile. This makes it worthwhile for members to go along with their parties, unless there is a divergence between the preferences of the constituency and the party leadership. Since party leaders are sensitive to the needs of their members to stay in good standing of their constituents, they sometimes will allow them to vote against the party if the vote is not needed to pass legislation.
Party cohesion is a necessary condition for effective party governance. A successful party can maintain cohesion, an unsuccessful one cannot. This often means that parties that reflect fewer interests are at an advantage over parties with broader coalitions. It is easier for members of the latter party to divide on critical issues and fail to pass legislation. This explains why Democrats, who tend to represent more varied interests, have more difficulty working together than Republicans who tend to represent a smaller range of interests.
1 - Floor Leaders
The floor leaders are the party members responsible for organizing party activities on the floor of the House or Senate. They are given the labels majority or minority leaders. The majority leader is actually second in leadership of the majority party since the leader becomes Speaker. The minority leader is in fact the leader of the minority party. By being floor leaders, the majority and minority leaders in the House are in a position to enforce party discipline because they are the people who determine who can and cannot speak before the floor. In the House, when bills are voted out of a committee it goes to the rules committee which determines, among other things, how much time will be spent debating the bill on the floor of the House. Each party is given half the alloted time to speak, and the floor manager is given the responsibility to determine who will and will not speak on the bill.
This is a critical resource for party cohesion since all members of Congress want to have face time speaking before the floor. A party member who has not voted with the party, or who has actively opposed it, is not likely to be allowed to speak, meaning that they will not be able to display themselves to their constituents. This is considered to be the most important day to day resource parties have to maintain party discipline, but it is only effective in the House. In the Senate the right to recognize who can speak on the floor is given to the person who is currently speaking, though it is limited by very strict rules of seniority. (see seniority rules in the Senate, and seniority rules in the House).
- Answers.com: Floor Managers.
- Answers.com: Majority Leaders.
- Answers.com: Minority Leaders.
- House Majority Leader: Steny Hoyer.
- House Minority Leader: John Boehner.
- Senate Majority Leader: Harry Reid.
- Senate Minority Leader: Mitch McConnell.
2 - The Whips
Both parties in each chamber have a group of members who make up the whip system, headed by a majority or minority whip. The whip is essentially a vote counter. Their job is to pre-determine how members will vote for bills on the floor and relay this information to other party leaders. Once a vote is held, there should be no surprises. The parties should be clear about who supports and opposes bills, and more importantly, who is undecided and what it takes to persuaded those members to vote with the party. This involves a great deal of intelligence and communication. Each party in each chamber employs a small handful of party members to serve as a whip system. Each member may have the responsibility for communicating with a specific group of individuals in order to determine where they stand on specific bills.
A couple of Texans have served as whips in the past few decades. The first, Lyndon Johnson, is credited with discovering the potential strength in what had been a weak office. As Senate majority whip he was able, with the help of his assistant Bobby Baker, to determine what factors drove the other Senators. He assembled information about each and knew what buttons to push in order to get the votes he needed. This information became useful when he became president and he was able to persuade members of Congress to pass one of the more ambitious legislative agendas ever proposed by a president.
The other was Tom Delay whose control over his party members included influence over who would be able to get funds for re-election. His attempts to do so for Texas races led to his indictment for violating laws against using corporate or union funds for elections.
- Majority: The Whip System.
- Minority Whip.
3 - Caucus Chairmen
The two party caucuses are headed by chairs and vice chairs.
- The Democratic Caucus: House (Wikipedia), Senate (Wikipedia).
- The Republican Conference: House (Wikipedia), Senate (Wikipedia).
4 - Policy Committee Chairs
Within each party caucus are policy committees which help determine legislative strategies, meaning which policies the party ought to pursue and how they shoudl attempt to steer them through Congress.
5 - Congressional Campaign Committee Chairs
Congressional Campaign Committees are responsible for organizing, or more accurately assiting in the organization of, congressional elections. Teh job of each party's campaign committee is to determine which seats held by the other party might be vulnerable, and recruiting the candidates and funding necessary to win the seat. They are also responsible for determining which of their own seats they need to focus on protecting.
- Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
- Wikipedia: Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
- Wikipedia: National Republican Congressional Committee.
The Development of Committees.
As with political parties, committees developed quickly within in Congress, and it did so hand in hand with the development of the early executive agencies. As each of the early executive agencies were established, and related committee was established as well with jurisdiction over the law implemented by that agency. When the Treasury Department was established, the Ways and Means Committee was established as well. What this tells us is that tight relationships have evolved between certain committees and certain executiev departments, even to the point where staff members in one branch may switch jobs to the other branch, within the same policy. There are three types of committees: standing, select and joint committees, as well as a fourth unique type of committee called a conference committee. The standing committee is the most important of these and the one I will spend the bulk of time discussing.
Four types:
- Standing Committees
- Select Committees
- Joint Commitees
- Conference Committees
Standing Committees are semi - permanent features of the bill making process. I say semi - permanent because they tend to exist for long periods of time (The House Ways and Means Committee is 220 years old), but can always be terminated by a simple vote because they are not established in the Constitution. Standing Committees are composed of members of the House or Senate. The ratio between party members is in rough proportion to the ration in the entire chamber. The majority party in the entire chamber is also the majority party in each committee and the chair of the committee is also a member of the majority party. The upshot of this is that it is good to be the majority party. You are then in a position to dominate the legislative process.
It is vitally important for members of Congress to be appointed to committees that have jurisdiction over issues that are important to their constituents. This is the only way the member would be able to have influence over issues that matter to them. In the local area, for example, members of Congress are members of the Science Committees, which have jurisdiction over bills regarding space policy, and Energy and Commerce Committees, which have jurisdiction over oil and gas policy as well as policies related to the Port of Houston. Since commitee assignments are made by party leaders, this can be a tool for influencing the behavior of party rank and file, as well as punishing those who do not toe the party line.
After bills are introduced into the House and Senate, they are assigned to the committee that has jurisdiction over the bill. Sometimes the referal is given to a parlimentarian, a non-partisan position, based on their best determination of what the bill is really about. Sometimes if the bill is complex, and has multiple subjects, it may be sent to multiple committees for consideration (the health reform legislation is an example -- five committees had jurisdiction over the issue). Each committeee may produce a different bill, and a reconciliation must occur at some point. Sometimes the Speaker may seek to control where bills go, but this can prove controversial.
These committes engage in two principal tasks related to the bills they are assigned. They can hold hearings over the bill, meaning that they solicit testimony from interested individuals who wish to speak on the bill. Often these hearings are open to the public, but obviously one must have the ability to make it the committee hearing in order to be heard. They also engage in markup, meaning they go over the bill point by point and retain, amend and delete scetions as they see fit. Generally both of these happen in one of the committee's sub-committees, which allow even more specialization in subject matter. If the subcommitee approves, it reports the bill to the full committee, and if the full committee approves, it begins its former to the House or Senate floor.
One additional task for each committee is oversight. Committees can compel testimony from members of the executive branch responsible for implementing the laws that the committee has jurisdiction over if they have questions regarding how they did so. Oversight hearings can sometimes be very political, espacially in cases of divided government where a Congress held by one party may wish to embarass executive branch officials working under a President of the other party.
- List of United States House committees
- List of United States Senate committees,
Select, or special, Committees are committees that are appointed for a brief period of time to deal with an issue that falls out of the jurisdiction of a standing committee, or cuts accross the jurisdictino of several commitees. Often they are used to investigate pressing matters such as Joseph McCarthy's accusations that communists had infiltrated the State Department in the 1950s, the Watergate Crisis, the Iran-Contra Controversy, and investigations into President Clinton's Whitewater land dealings.
Joint Committees are commitees with members from both the House and Senate that handle housekeeping issues important to Congress as a whole, and studies over issues such a taxation.
Conference Committees are a special type of temporary joint committee that has one simple task: to reconcile differences between House and Senate bills in order for each chamber to approve a single bill that can be sent to the president for a signature. It is very rare for the same bill to pass both chambers in the same language, generally this only occurs if one chamber has no problem with a bill passed on the floor of the other chamber and sends the bill straight to the floor for consideration without amendment. Conference Commitees are appointed by party leaders of each chamber and tend to be composed of the leaders most involved with a specific bill. The hearings are generally held in secret, which allows for a variety of controversial proceedings, including the addition of earmarks meant to be "sweeteners" meant to entice reluctant members of Congress to support the bill.
Not all standing committees are created equal. The most important committees, and the ones that are most difficult to be appointed to, are those that have jurisdiction over money, or constitutional law. The money commitees are the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees (which sets tax rates), the House and Senate Budget Committees (which help set the budget, whcih authorises the expenditure of money) and the House and Senate Appropriation Commitees (which are the committees responsible for actually appropriating the funds to be distributed to executive agencies). The Senate Judiciary Commitee is also one of the more prestigious committees in Congress given its role in overseeing actions of the Judicial Branch, and confirming fedrral judges and Supreme Court Justices.
The Appropriations Committee deserves special mention because members of the committee can leverage their positions into broad influence over a range of Congressional issues. The committee is divided into a number of sub-committees that have juridiction over the federal spending that roughly approximates the division within each of the cabinet level departments on the federal level. Given that much of this spending is spread out over the entire country, it is worthwhile for all members of Congress to develop collegial relations with members of the Appropriations Committee. Tom DeLay was able to use his positon as chair of the Transportation Sub-Committee within the House Appropriations Committee to a position of power within his party. Since everyone needs money for transportation infrastructure, it was important for everyone to be friendly to Mr. DeLay.
- United States House Committee on Appropriations
- United States Senate Committee on Appropriations
The Rise and Fall of Committee Chairs
In the discussion above regarding the Speaker, it was noted that in the pate 19th and early 20th centuries, the House Speaker was the most powerful person in Congress, and that his power was based largely on his control over committees. He determined where bills went, who was on what committee and who chaired it. The reduction of the Speaker's power was driven partly by depriving him of these powers over committees. The party caucus now determined who would be on which committee, and a strict seniority rule was adopted for becoming committee chair. Chairs were also granted significant control over their committees and how they would control legislation within it. These reforms occured in the first and second decades of the 20th century.
The strict seniority rule established that the member of the majority party with the longest service in Congress automatically became committee chair. This ensured that chairs could not be controlled by anyone in Congress, which was fine if one wanted to avoid having a dictatorial Speaker, but not if one wanted to avoid having dictatorial committee chairs. Power began to shift to members of Congress who represented non-competitive districts. These were placs like the South were only the Democratic Party held sway, there would be no competitive Republican Party until the 1960s at the earliest, and sometimes not until the 1990s. Representatives could be, as the saying went, elected young and kept there in order to earn the seniority that allowed them to become committee chairs and use that power to stop legislation they opposed from becoming law. Since southern races were less competitive than those in other parts of the country, this rule benefitted the South.
Committee chairs could table legislation at will, even over the objections of the rest of the committee. This was how committee chairs could ensure that civil rights legislation would never see the light of day. But this power was simply a result of the reforms passed in the early years of the 20th century, and were subject to change. This change eventually occurred in the mid 1970s after several election cycles where more liberal Democrats were elected to Congress from non-Southern districts. These representatives were opposed to the rule of the Southern Barons and eventually earned enough power to pass the Subcommittee Bill of Rights which made several changes to committee procedures which reduced the power of committee chairs by replacing strict seniority rule with a secret ballot within the party caucus. This allowed for certain targetted commitee chairs to be removed without the risk of reprisal if the effort failed. It also allowed for the retention of committee chairs the party caucus wanted to keep. Seniority does have its advantages.
The bill also mandated that each commitee have a handful of sub-committees which allowed members of the commitee to operate without being under the thumb of the committee chair, and a majority of the members of a committee can vote a bill out of committee over the objection of the chair.
- Wikipedia: U.S. Congressional Committees.
- List of U.S. House Committees from House.gov.
- List of U.S. Senate Committees from Senate.gov.
- From the Rules Committee: The Current Committee System.
- Committee of the Whole
- Committee on Rules
- United States Congressional committee
- List of United States House committees
Caucuses.
In addition to the two major caucuses -- the Democratic Caucus and the Republican Conference -- there are literally hundreds of smaller caucuses focused on smaller, more focused issues important to segments of the House and Senate membership. Often these organizations provide opportunities for the development of legislation aimed at the certain mutually important issues to members of these caucuses.
- Congressional Caucuses.
Support Agencies.
Aside from the institutions above, three important supporting agencies have been established which assist member of Congress with their jobs. The oldest is the Library of Congress, which is great source for full information about legislation introduced into Congress. The Congressional Budget Office, which is the legislature's equivalent of the executive's Office of Managament and Budget, provides analysis for members of Congress about the national budget, as well as estimations of what various government proposals are likely to cost. The General Accountability Office is the investigative arm of Congress and is largely responsible for determining how funds have been spent on certain programs.
- The Congressional Budget Office.
- The General Accountability Office.
- The Library of Congress.
Influencing Members of Congress: Lobbying and Electioneering.
Lobbying.
One of the freedoms clearly established in the First Amendment is also one of the more controversial. The right to peacefully assemble and petition government for a redress of grievances, means that we are free to lobby Congress. But just saying we are free to do so does not means we are all able to successfully do so. Two of the principle ways that interest groups influence the legislative process is by lobbying, which means making direct appeals to members of Congress, and electioneering, which refers to efforts to aid in the re-election of incumbents, or the election of new members of Congress. Both are controversial because their relative effectiveness depends on the amount of money the groups have to spend.
The classic image of a lobbyist is one who hangs out in the lobby outside a legislative chamber and waits for members to walk out when they can then approach them and discuss a particular issue with them. There are of course many ways this can be done. Aside from meeting in a legislators' office, they can meet in neutral sites such as fundraisers, award ceremonies, restaurants, and perhaps most controversially, private trips paid for by lobbyists. Lavish events tend to attract more members of Congress than more pedestrian ones. The key to effective lobbying is the ability of a lobbyist to gain access to a member of Congress. For that reason, familiarity helps. This explains why ex-members of Congress and state legislatures tend to make the best lobbyists. While we can all knock on a door, we cannot all have it opened and be invited inside. In the case of Texas Legislators. it helps explain why someone might put up with a job that only pays $600 per month. Once out of office, that person can earn six and seven figure salaries lobbying for well funded private interests.
- Meet Billy Tauzin, ex-Congressional Representative, current head of PhRMA.
In addition to ex-legislators, ex-staff members of legislators, or of legislative committees can be effective lobbyists. Not only would they also be acquainted with members of the legislature, they would also be familiar with the intricacies of the legislative process. They would know how things get done in a particular committee and be especially useful in passing, or stalling a given bill.
Controversies aside, lobbyists do serve an important function. They educate legislators about issues they might otherwise ignore. If the lobbyist can organize groups of constituents from the legislators' district, then the importance of a particular issue can be made clear. That said, this only helps interests that can afford to send people to Austin or Washington DC.
Types of Lobbying.
We normally think of lobbying as an interaction begun by the lobbyist who makes a plea to a legislator for a vote on a bill or the insertion of an amendment to a bill, or perhaps even for the introduction of a bill crafted by the lobbyist themselves. But sometimes the relationship can be reversed. Reverse lobbying occurs when a legislator approaches an interest group and makes a demand that they do certain things in exchange for the legislators' support on a bill. Cross lobbying occurs when interest groups lobby each other in an attempt to increase their influence on a particular bill or issue.
Electioneering.
Interest groups want to ensure that the composition of Congress is as favorable as possible for their positions. This means that they get involved in the recruitment, funding and election efforts of legislators they believe would vote their way, and attempt to defeat those that would not. Interest groups often get involved in public relations efforts not directly tied into the elections of legislators who support their positions in order to tilt the landscape in their favor.
What is Legal and What's Not.
Despite the constitutional rights associated with lobbying and electioneering, questions continue to be raised about the ethics and legality of certain practices. In a sense, the offering of a vote in exchange for a favor is bribery. But in another sense, it is an effective way for constituents to ensure that they are well represented. If we are free to contribute money to candidates running for office, and presumably we are more likely to do so for people who will support the issues we support. Some degree of reciprocity should be expected. This is the heart of representation. But the idea that lobbyists, by possessing certain benefits not available to others, have a special ability to ensure that legislation benefits them or their interests at the expense of others, violates our belief that we are equally represented.
In recent years a variety of laws have been passed that attempt to address the unequal access that lobbying provides:
- Wikipedia: Lobbying Disclosure Act of 1995.
- WIkipedia: Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007.
The case of Jack Abramoff illustrates the problems associated with lobbying.
Additional Terms and Concepts.
Be prepared to define any of these terms:
- Patronage.
- Log Rolling.
- Earmarks.
- Constituency Service.
- Pork Barrel Legislation.
- Party Line Vote.
Area Districts.
- Wikipedia: United States' Congressional Delegations from Texas.
- Wikipedia: Texas 2nd District.
- Wikipedia: Texas 7th District.
- Wikipedia: Texas 9th District.
- WIkipedia: Texas 10th District.
- Wikipedia: Texas 14th District.
- Wikipedia: Texas 18th District.
- Wikipedia: Texas 22nd District.
- Wikipedia: Texas 29th District.
Area City Councils:
- Wikipedia: Houston City Council.
Additional Sources:
- The U.S. House
- The U.S. Senate
- History of United States Congress.
- List of United States Federal Legislation.
- The Texas Legislature
- Party Leaders of the U.S. House
- Leaders from House.gov.
- Party Leaders of the U.S. Senate.
- Leaders from Senate.gov.
- Kay Bailey Hutchison.
- John Cornyn.
- Ron Paul's Website.
- The Texas Congressional Delegation.
- The Texas House Committees.
- The Texas Senate's Committees.
- Senator Mike Jackson.
- Representative Randy Weber.
Assignments for Spring 2009 Students
Internet Students
Address the following in at least 150 words:
1 - Outline the history of the party caucuses in the House and Senate. How do political parties influence the legislative process?
2 - Do the same for congressional commitees.
3 - Who represents you in Congress and the Texas Legislature? How do they do so? How are their party and committee activities geared towards properly representing the interests of their constituents?
Lecture Students:
Again, we will have a multiple choice quiz. Be able to answer questiosn related to the nature of party and committee influence in the legislature. Know the names of the people who occupy leadership positions in Congress and what those leadership positions do. Also be able to answer questions about the people who represent the local area at the national and state level. What committees are they on? What positions do they take on current issues?
Written Questions for Summer 2009 Online Students:
Answer each in at least 150 words.
1 - Outline the history of political parties (The Democratic Caucus and Republican Conference) in the United States Congress. What impact does each party have on the political process currently?
2 - Answer the same question (#1) for congressional commitees.
3 - Who represents you in Congress and the Texas Legislature? How do they do so? How are their party and committee activities geared towards properly representing the interests of their constituents?
4 - On the websites of the U.S. House and Senate you will find lists of recent activity. Outline each. What are the principle items on each chamber's agenda? What are their prospects for passage?